On his invitations, the name “Baird Jones” was always followed by the string of degrees—B.A., J.D., M.S.W., M.A.—that he earned at NYU and Columbia amid his other pursuits. Baird’s quest for legitimacy paid off in 1987, when he was appointed Curator of Contemporary Art at the Paterson (New Jersey) Museum. His “celebrity art” exhibitions would continue to appear there into the 2000s.